When Merlin Takes Some Time Away
by readmered
Summary: When Merlin leaves for just a few days, Arthur manages to throw the kingdom into a tizzy. Slightly cracked, bromance fic. No slash.


**Disclaimer: If Merlin was mine, we would have a horrible sitcom abought Merlin and Arthur's daily life and how much they irritate each other.**

 **Summary: When Merlin leaves for just a few days, Arthur manages to throw the kingdom into a tizzy. Slightly cracked, bromance fic. No slash. Enjoy!**

When Merlin Takes a Day Off

The knights were at a complete loss. Their king was not at practice. Merlin had left the day before to escort a shipment of weapons to an eastern outpost, and had asked them to assign a temporary manservant for Arthur. They had done so, but were still waiting.

"What the hell is he doing up there?" Gwaine was hot, sweaty, and uncomfortable, and they hadn't even done anything yet.

"Oh shut up Gwaine, he's clearly got somewhere to be, he wouldn't just skip training." Elyan rolled his eyes, but was a little more curious than he let on.

Leon spoke up, "But then he would send someone for us, and he hasn't." The knights continued throwing out ideas for their king's absence, not noticing the approach of a very young, very nervous young boy.

"Ah, sirs?"

"Oh, yes, Percival, I'm sure that Arthur tripped, fell down the stairs, knocked over a stack of crates, therefore somehow saving a child, and then rightfully returning it to its mother after finding out that it had actually been kidnapped four months ago, and then killed the abductors. That seems totally plausible." Gwaine finished sarcastically.

"It's not like he's Merlin. I have a feeling he's done something like that before..." Leon contributed. The gathered knights nodded in agreement.

The castle hand cleared his throat. "Pardon, good knights, I… I… need some…I mean, the queen sent… ah, help?" The men stared at the flustered boy, trying to decode his stuttered message.

"Oh!" Elyan understood. "You're Arthur's manservant today!" He looked quite proud for remembering. "Wait. Is something wrong with Arthur?" The boy nodded, terrified.

~:~:~

Merlin rode back from the outpost, grumbling to anyone who would listen about the strange mare he had been given to ride. She was nothing like Winnifred, Merlin's usual mount. He was more than glad to come home to a bed and hot meals again. He had only been two days, but neither Arthur nor Gwaine had been with him for entertainment, so on top of being terribly uncomfortable, he was extremely bored. That was, until he decided to make friends with half the people he traveled with. Merlin had learned that a well-placed smile and the ability to laugh at bad jokes always had always given him the ability to make friends.

As the company rode through the gates of Camelot, Merlin noticed there were many more knights in the courtyard than usual. Servants hurried from place to place, not speaking. Something was certainly wrong. Since it was still mid-morning, he decided to leave his horse to a stable hand and ask Gaius about the odd behavior since he would have finished his first rounds by now.

"Gaius?" He called as he entered the physician's room. Empty.

Starting to worry, he left for the throne room. On his way, he asked one of the serving girls, Anidori, what the cause for all the commotion was. Recognizing him as Arthur's manservant, she immediately spoke up.

"The king's been poisoned! He hasn't woken for two days!" Honestly, it seemed Arthur couldn't be on his own for a couple of days without Merlin. When the prat got up, Merlin would never let him forget it.

He half-ran the rest of the way to Arthur's chambers and entered, not bothering to knock. He was startled to see not only Leon and Gaius at the bedside, but Gwaine, Elyan, Percival, Gwen, and the Derrek, the boy who was assigned to step in for him in his absence.

"What the hell happened?" Every person present turned to face him, expressions of relief and guilt abundant.

"Sorry, Merlin, I don't know what happened." This was Derrek, the guiltiest. "I came in the first morning, and he wouldn't wake up, I'm sorry!" Merlin slowed on his way to the bedside, realization dawning.

Then, to the surprise of all, Merlin began to laugh. "This isn't funny, Merlin, he could be dying!" Gwen was fidgeting, increasingly worried for her husband.

"Oh, I think it is, my lady." Merlin was still snickering. Everyone still stared, wondering if he had gone mad. "Derrek, could you please go get the kings breakfast?" as an afterthought, he added, "And one for me, too!"

As the boy ran off to obey, Merlin got the rest of the story from those assembled.

Seeing the platter of hot food that had just arrived, Merlin took one egg from his plate and quickly ate it. Then, lightly taking a sausage, Arthur's favorite, he went over to the king and waved it under his nose.

To the joy and surprise of all, Arthur groaned and stretched up to take a bite, still half asleep. Merlin snatched it away before Arthur could take it, and the king groaned, trying to roll away. Not to be dissuaded, Merlin put his arms under Arthur's and dragged his pillow away, dropping on the ground.

"Merlin!" The man being yelled at only grinned.

"Rise and shine, sire!"

"MERLI-" Arthur was cut off as he suddenly fell to the floor, hitting hard all except for his head, which hit the perfectly aligned pillow. Merlin remembers the day when he would miss. So did Arthur. Those were bad mornings.

The king rolled up to his feet to be met with Merlin's stern face and a pile of food on a plate.

"Thank god, I'm starving!"

"I should think so, sire." Still not noticing the other seven people present, Arthur looked at his friend in confusion. "You're not supposed to be back until tomorrow, Merlin."

"It is tomorrow, Arthur." He gripped the other man's shoulders and turned him to face the rest of the room, still trying to finish a mouthful.

"Ah." Arthur sounded thoroughly disgruntled. Gwen rushed to his side, going on and on about how worried she was when she woke before him and that she was convinced some thing bad happened.

"Something bad _did_ happen, my lady" Gwaine interjected, trying to keep a straight face. "Merlin left Arthur to fend for himself." As the rest of the party failed at keeping back laughs, Arthur just stood, completely bewildered.

The End

 **And there you have it! A little Arthur's-hopeless-without-Merlin fic! Hope you enjoyed it! Now, I know many of you don't like to review, but just to words to say you smiled at it would be plenty! Thank you!**


End file.
